Night Elves
Once the strongest, most sophisticated and cultured Empire in all of Azeroth, the Night Elves, also known as the Kaldorei, or the "Children of the Moon," have a checkered history of rising from obscurity to the height of glory, only to suffer for their hubris and ambitions resulting in the Sundering. Their later participation in safeguarding the Emerald Dream, fighting alongside the Sandfury Empire against the Qiraji menace in Silithus, and again uniting with Sandfury, Orcs and Humans against Archimonde's Burning Legion that resulted in the destruction of Nordrassil, has left the Kaldorei weakened and bereft of their once-limitless immortality, but surviving. Though by nature isolationalists, circumstance and the looming threat of sudden mortality have caused many of the Night Elves to approach their neighbors for tentative alliances. Characteristics Just as elegant as they can be savage, the Kaldorei are long-limbed and slender, with even the broader-shouldered males have a slimness to their builds. The Night Elves possess skin tones that have helped them blend into the shadows of their forests for millennia, ranging from light to deep purples, to differing hues of greens and blues, with glowing amber or green eyes and slim, elongated ears. The Kaldorei are very much a naturalistic people, favoring the natural over the technological, though recent interactions with Theramore have warmed the Night Elves to some degree towards modernization. The Night Elven practices of Druidism have also gained them the interest of Orcs, whose Shamanism is still in its renewed beginning stages, offering the two races a bridge between their differences. Though naturally aloof in regards to outsider races from millennia of sovereign and a touch of still-ingrained superiority towards their Sandfury allies to the south, the Night Elves of Kalimdor have slowly begun to test the waters of engaging with their new neighbors to the east. 'Racial Aspect - 'of the Moonlit Night: For millennia, the Night Elves have been the children of Elune, the elusive great spirit of the moon. Elune has blessed her children with safety, allowing Night Elves to naturally possess the ability to hide away in the depths of forests and other natural environments. History Nearly 14,000 years ago, a small, unimportant off-shoot of the Zandalari Empire branched out to the center of the Empire, where a mysterious lake that cultivated a strange energy laid. Setting up primitive homes on the shores of this Well of Eternity, the ancestors of the Night Elves were gradually introduced to more and more of the lake's magical secrets by an entity they called Elune. The trolls evolved and adjusted to the magical energy of the Well of Eternity over time, until they had completely transformed from trolls to beings more in-line with the Night Elves that currently exist. Armed with the magic and knowledge imparted to them by Elune and the Well of Eternity, the newly renamed Kaldorei aggressively expanded outward, taking a chunk of the Zandalari Empire from the trolls by use of their unknown and shockingly effective Arcane magic. Unsatisfied with this, despite the Zandalari's lack of response to their gains, the Kaldorei continued to expand westward, taking huge chunks of Amani territory in the north and Gurubashi lands in the southwest. The Night Elves continued this aggressive land-taking until they had an empire of their own that spanned from what is now Darkshore to Feralas, with their capital city built around the mystical Well of Eternity that had blessed them in their beginning. With Kaldorei forces successfully keeping the three Troll empires from retaking any lands, the infamously beautiful queen of the Kaldorei, Azshara, ordered her Highborne, self-titled mages of the Night Elves who eagerly delved deeper into the secrets of the Arcane, to uncover even more magic from the Well of Eternity. The Highborne and Azshara recklessly kept digging, spurned on by a mysterious voice in Azshara's mind, to the point that they were lost to their fellow Kaldorei, who cautioned the Highborne's hasty actions. Azshara's ambitions led to tragedy, however, as the Highborne's actions summoned forth a portal for the Burning Legion, a horde of demonic, planet-devouring invaders, to pour their forces through. A vicious civil war ensued, pitting Queen Azshara's fanatically loyal Highborne and the Burning Legion against the forces of the remaining Kaldorei, any Highborne that sought to fight against the Burning Legion, and a variety of unexpected assistance from across the continent. While the Amani and Gurubashi Empires' forces held the Burning Legion within the Kaldorei borders, the resistance Kaldorei, led by Tyrande Whisperwind and the Stormrage Brothers, worked alongside Cenarius and his Tauren allies to pierce the capital's defences and put an end to the portal heralding the Burning Legion's forces. Aided by their allies, including the Red, Blue, Green and Bronze Dragonflights, Queen Azshara's portal was shut, drawing the Burning Legion back to their realm. However, in order to shut the portal that allowed the Burning Legion into their world, the Kaldorei were forced to destroy the Well of Eternity that Azshara had used for her gateway. The subsequent destruction from the Well of Eternity's breaking was catastrophic, shattering the continent into four pieces and summoning a vast, terrible storm that scattered the four land masses across Azeroth. Following this terrible Sundering, the Kaldorei remnants and their allies were forces to rebuild, A new, lesser Well of Eternity was created from three of the Seven Vials of Eternity by Illidan Stormrage, for which the Night Elf was imprisoned. Unable to risk destroying the new Well, however, the Kaldorei's dragon allies instead created a massive tree blessed by their powers, forever granting the Kaldorei ageless lives in exchange for becoming the guardians of the new Well of Eternity. Humbled by the devastation of the world around them, the Kaldorei, including the Highborne survivors with them, chose to forsake their great cities and instead embraced a more naturalistic life offered by Cenarius and the Tauren. For a while, their new lifestyle proceeded without trouble, but the remaining Highborne, so entrenched in the Arcane energies of the Well of Eternity and used to freely wielding the Arcane, could not continue without their magic. Equipped with their fellow Kaldorei's wishes and secretly holding onto one of the Seven Vials of Eternity, the Highborne gathered and sailed across the Great Sea to find a new home in which they could wield and control their magic without the condemnation and worry from their Kaldorei brethren. In turn, the remaining Kaldorei resumed their naturalistic lives. The predominantly male druids were requested by Ysera, Aspect of the Green Dragonflight, to enter a great sleep so as to safeguard the Emerald Dream with their spirits. With their druids laid up in underground burrows in the roots of Nordrassil, the great tree erected by the dragons overtop the new Well of Eternity, the remaining Night Elves, led by Tyrande Whisperwind, began to slowly rebuild their society with the help of their newfound Tauren allies. Though the Kaldorei would eventually be roused to face against the Satyrs, creatures and former Highborne twisted by the Burning Legion into cruel monsters bent on revenge, and later the Qiraji in the War of the Shifting Sands, they by and large were able to live a mostly peaceful, mostly solitary existence following the Sundering. Their allies, the Tauren, and later following the War of Shifting Sands, the Sandfury Trolls, remained in individual contact with the Kaldorei, but as a nation, the Night Elves kept to themselves. Timeline The year 0 A.P. refers to the 'present' in which Velcraft starts. Numbers lower than 0 refer to the past, while numbers higher indicate the passage of time as events take place. *-14,500 A.P. : The first dark Trolls settle on the shores of the Well of Eternity. *-14,000 A.P. : Transformed by the waters of the Well of Eternity, the Kaldorei, or Night Elves, begin to rise in numbers. *-13,000 A.P. : Empowered by the Well of Eternity's Arcane magic, the Kaldorei blast the Trolls and rapidly begin expanding their empire. *-11,000 A.P. : Queen Azshara is born. *-10,000 A.P. : Fueled by their great empire and the beloved Queen Azshara's command, the Highborne Kaldorei begin delving deeper into the secrets of the Well of Eternity, despite the warnings of Cenarius and their naturalistic Kaldorei brethren. *-10,000 A.P. : The War of the Ancients occurs between Queen Azshara's fanatical Highborne bent on summoning the Burning Legion to Azeroth and the rebellious Kaldorei forces and their various allies. *-10,000 A.P. : The War of the Ancients ends with the destruction of the Well of Eternity, causing the Sundering, a massive magical explosion that shatters the continent and creates a massive storm in place of the former Well of Eternity. *-10,000 A.P. : A second Well of Eternity is created from 3 of the Seven Vials of Eternity by Illidan Stormrage, an act that has him imprisoned by Malfurion Stormrage. *-9,000 A.P. : The War of the Satyrs, between the Night Elves and the remnants of the Burning Legion, takes place. *-8,000 A.P. : The remaining Highborne, unable to accept living without the use of their magic, take their leave of their brethren and sail across the Great Sea to find a new home. *-8,000 A.P. : Following the departure of the Highborne, the male Kaldorei resume their hibernation in order to safeguard the Emerald Dream. *-7,999 A.P. : Tyrande Whisperwind, the only leader remaining for the Kaldorei, forms the Sentinels of the able warrior-women and leads them in dutifully patrolling the Kaldorei lands. *-1,100 A.P. : Sentinel scouts report ambushes of vicious insectoid creatures in the south of Feralas. *-1,100 A.P. : Following more reports of the Qiraji assaults in the south, the Night Elves contact their Tauren allies and begin marching south to confront the threat. *-1,100 A.P. : The Night Elves, led by Tyrande Whisperwind, Fandral Staghelm and Shandris Feathermoon, meet with their Tauren allies in the lands of Feralas, along with the Tauren allies, the Sandfury Trolls. *-1,100 A.P. : After an explosion negotiation meeting between the Night Elves and the Sandfury Trolls, mediated by the Tauren, the three races agree to work together to put an end to the Qiraji menace. *-1,000 A.P. : The War of the Shifting Sands, between the returning Qiraji forces pouring from Silithus and the First Alliance of Kalimdor, takes place. *-950 A.P. : The War of the Shifting Sands ends with the Qiraji locked behind the dragon and loa constructed Scarab Wall, and the First Alliance of Kalimdor victorious. Tyrande Whisperwind, Shandris Feathermoon, Fandral Staghelm and his son, Valstann Staghelm, return to Hyjal. *-4 A.P. : The Night Elves' dominant isolation from the rest of Kalimdor is ended by the arrival of the forces of Thrall and Jaina Proudmoore from the Eastern Kingdoms. *-4 A.P. : Shandris Feathermoon's Sentinels face off against the Orc forces of the Warsong Clan, led by Grom Hellscream. When the demigod Cenarius is slain by the demon-corrupted Orcs, Shandris' Sentinels flee to report to Tyrande Whisperwind. *-4 A.P. : Witnessing the return of the Burning Legion through the fooled Orcs once more, Tyrande Whisperwind leads her Sentinels back to reawaken the druids of the Kaldorei. She awakens Malfurion Stormrage, along with freeing Illidan Stormrage from his imprisonment, despite the warnings from those around her. *-4 A.P. : Faced with the terrible might of the Burning Legion, Tyrande Whisperwind and Malfurion Stormrage agree to an alliance with Jaina Proudmoore and Thrall. *-4 A.P. : Despite being misled by the death knight, Arthas, Illidan Stormrage defeats the Dreadlord, Tichondrius, by smashing an Arcane-overcharged Skull of Gul'dan into the dreadlord's chest, destroying both the demon and the artifact in a magical explosion. *-4 A.P. : Equipped with newfound knowledge of the Burning Legion's magic from Illidan, the Night Elves alongside the Orcs and Jaina Proudmoore's forces convene to lay a trap for Archimonde, leader of the Burning Legion's Horde. Archimonde is slain with the destruction of Nordrassil, the World Tree, saving Azeroth from the Burning Legion, but also removing the vaulted immortality of the Kaldorei. *-3 A.P. : Convinced by the Tauren and the Sandfury Trolls, the Night Elves agree to a tentative peace with the Orcs, granting them forests in Azshara to use for lumber. In exchange, the Orcs removed themselves from Ashenvale and agreed to worth with the Night Elven forces in removing threats to Ashenvale from Azshara.